This relates generally to imaging systems, and more particularly, imaging systems that perform pixel binning.
Modern electronic devices such as cellular telephones, cameras, and computers often use digital image sensors. Imagers (i.e., image sensors) may be formed from a two-dimensional array of image sensing pixels. Each pixel receives incident photons (light) and converts the photons into electrical signals. Image sensors are sometimes designed to provide images to electronic devices using a Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format.
When capturing images (i.e., receiving incident light and converting the photons into electrical signals), an imager may perform pixel binning to obtain binned images with a resolution lower than a resolution (i.e., size) of a corresponding pixel array. The imager may form groups of pixels, combine the image signals generated by the pixels of each group to form binned pixels, and form binned images from the binned pixels with a resolution lower than the resolution of the original captured image. Binned images may have higher signal-to-noise rations in low-light situations than the corresponding original images.
Pixel binning performed by conventional imagers, however, results in uneven spatial distribution of pixels in the binned image. Therefore, it would be desirable to design an imager with improved pixel binning.